Can the House “fix” work?

In a 261-157 vote, the House passed the Fred Upton “fix” for Obamacare. 39 Dems voted for it.

Does the vote change things for consumers? Not really. Even it passed the Senate somehow and won President Obama’s signature, it merely allows insurers to sell non-grandfathered policies. Just as the Obama “fix” cannot make insurers offer their current “substandard” plans to consumers –as California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones told reporters, the Upton bill is equally toothless.

Here’s a Venn diagram put out by the White House on the difference between its and the House proposal. (HT @Drew_Hammill @DavidMDrucker).

Please note both measures allow providers to do something they do not want to do.

NCPA Senior Fellow Devon Herrick doesn’t see how the bill, were it to pass the Senate and win President Obama’s signature, can fix the problem.

“At this point it would be all but impossible to force insurers to restore plans they have already cancelled in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act.” Insurers have spent years working to comply with the Affordable Care Act. “It’s next to impossible to
tell an insurer to cancel a plan (designed) to comply with the law in the first place.”

Equal tax treatment for health coverage. The Senator would replace the special tax breaks for employer-based health insurance with a univer­sal system of health care tax credits for the pur­chase of health insurance. These health care tax credits of $5,000 for a family and $2,500 for an individual would be indexed annually for infla­tion and would be available to Americans regard­less of income, employment, or tax liability. Even prominent critics concede that such a tax change is a principled and far-reaching proposal.[2] This change alone would lay the groundwork for unprecedented consumer choice and competi­tion in the health care sector.

So why aren’t Republicans shouting about this approach? Because it too could produce radical changes in how many consumers get health care.